"There's an emerging situation in the Milwaukee area," Clarke said during an interview on CNN.

Live from Monterey, Calif., Clarke made a round of national television interviews to defend a radio ad in which he called on citizens to consider firearms training.

"I am the top law enforcement official in Milwaukee County," Clarke said on CNN.

Clarke told CNN he was attending a homeland security conference in California, but WISN 12 News has learned he is actually earning a master's degree at the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School there.

Costs are covered by the federal government except the student's time. Students spend two weeks per quarter on campus -- a total of 12 weeks in California during the 18-month program.

"All I know is the guy who is the Milwaukee County sheriff is difficult to reach for the Milwaukee County chief judge, the Milwaukee County district attorney, the Milwaukee County executive, the city of Milwaukee," Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said.

Clarke was at school in California last July when one of his deputies died in a car crash on duty.

"All of our jobs mean staying here, in the county, working for the people who elected us," Abele said.

When WISN 12 News has asked why Clarke is in California, his spokeswoman responded, "I don't give out the details of the sheriff's schedule," Fran McLaughlin wrote in an email.

A request for payroll records to determine if Clarke was taking vacation or personal time to attend school out-of-state got this response: "County elected officials do not earn sick, holiday, vacation, personal or overtime. Their salary is paid without reference to work or off-work hours," said Ed Bailey, adjutant inspector.

On Friday, Clarke finally confirmed what his staff wouldn't to a stagehand at a television studio in California.